Palestinian officials said on Sunday Egypt will not send security experts to Gaza ahead of any Israeli pullout unless all Palestinian factions accept Cairo's involvement and a truce.
Egypt has offered to help train and revamp Palestinian security forces to fill a vacuum in Gaza, once Israel removes Jewish settlements and troops from occupied land, so that Islamist militants cannot operate unchecked.
But the Palestinian officials said Egypt was disturbed by opposition to its proposed role by Palestinian factions and several security chiefs who fear they might lose their jobs.
"They want to make sure their role is welcomed by all Palestinians otherwise they will withdraw their effort," one official said.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said Egypt would not send experts to Gaza unless Israel and all Palestinian factions agreed to a cease-fire.
"They (the Egyptians) don't want to look bad (if there is violence) and they don't want it to backfire. They also don't want to feel they're a foreign power intruding on anybody," he said.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said Egypt has been seeking guarantees its trainers would be safeguarded.
Palestinian factions, demanding Israeli reciprocity, met Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie last week to discuss the cease-fire request and said talks would continue.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's cabinet approved in principle on June 6 his plan to uproot all 21 Gaza settlements and four of the 120 enclaves Israel has built in the West Bank.
Ministers will vote in nine months' time on whether to begin the four-stage evacuation.
Comments
Comments are closed.